


Five.

by Xenovia



Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series
Genre: Basically just MM from another view, Dalston has crushes and he's not happy about it, Randall and Hershel are there but not that much, but from an outside pov that game is wild
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-28 01:08:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20417354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xenovia/pseuds/Xenovia
Summary: Friendships comes and go, but Dalston never really knew where he fit in with the group.





	Five.

**Author's Note:**

> it's random MM fic time because I got Writers block for my other fics baby
> 
> I feel like Dalston is underrated, he's the Everyman loveable jerk we deserve

_They say Two’s company, Three’s a crowd. _

_They don’t say anything about four, but it usually works out okay._

_But Five? Five’s another story all together. _

_-_

Stood in the square, looking at the chasm that broke down the middle of Monte D’Or, he tried to catch his breath. The group from his childhood all stood together again and he had no words. He just watched them, as they reconciled. They were laughing and forgiving eachother, and Dalston stood awkwardly at the side. Hershel did the same across the plaza, but at least he seemed to be talking with them.

Dalston was still reeling at the various disguises that had been revealed. He didn’t know who Desc-whats-his-name was, but knowing he was masquerading as Angela made him very uncomfortable. His mind went over things he’d said to her recently, stressed that he might have said something that spurred the events.

A lot of people there had blamed him for things happening, why not blame him for more?

He saw as they all hugged eachother, crying. He didn’t know what to do. Was it weirder to just stand there and watch them? Was he supposed to join in?

He never really knew where he stood with this group, and the unexpected return of one member made it even more confusing.

\----

It was easy enough when they were children. Kids would be kids, there was no drama or pettiness. They’d play until it got dark out, then head back along the route.

He liked seeing Angela’s family, they were always nice and would offer them a spare coat if they’d forgotten to bring one. Her big brother was a bit weird, but he’d sometimes lend them books and help with homework. Angela would say goodbye to them all and he and the boys would continue down the lane, teasing eachother in the evening air.

He always got nervous when they reached the end of the road. The Ascot house terrified him, almost as much as it terrified Henry. Dalston often wanted to stand in front of the smaller boy and protect him if he got yelled out for staying out late. Usually Randall would take the honours, but his dad didn’t usually listen. Dalston would wave goodbye as he tried to avoid the lecture the others were receiving.

He lived further out that his friends, so he’d usually stroll the rest of it alone. Nobody would notice if he was out late, so it was easier to just slip in alone.

It’s not that they were bad parents, they were just…distant. They worked out of town, so he’d often have various babysitters who didn’t last long. He wasn’t famous for making friends with them, usually refusing to do anything they said.

_“Why don’t you just do your homework?” They asked, and Dalston shrugged and carried on running round with his dog._

_“Don’t feel like it.”_

Most of them weren’t even there long enough to remember his first name. He didn’t mind, he quite liked going by ‘Dalston’, it made him feel like a secret Agent.

Sometimes he was organised enough to invite the others round, they’d camp out in his living room after the underpaid teenager assigned to look after him had snoozed off with the dog on her lap. They’d all try telling ghost stories which were good, but Dalston knew his were the scariest of all (Randall would deny this, even though Dalston saw him cowering behind a cushion.). He was the centre of it all, and he and his friends got on fantastically. You’d never seen a closer group of kids.

-

It lasted fine into his early teen years, he thought they’d be the best of friends forever, in the hopeful way kids on the cusp of high school usually believe.

Then Hershel Layton came along.

The kid probably didn’t notice, but Dalston started feeling left out the group. It seemed like this kid had more in common with them, he was nicer, and he was smart. They were all smart.

Randall was great at Archaeology, Angela was always first to raise her hand in class, Henry tutored multiple students. They probably liked having Layton around, the kid who was top of the class immediately, rather than a guy who could barely remember to take his homework home, let alone finish it.

They’d hang out after school, and the Highschool teachers weren’t so forgiving of missed lessons. Dalston would be stuck in detention while his friends made plans.

So he started to drift. It was slow, it wasn’t immediate. Just a few late arrivals to days out, a couple of ignored letters. It made him mad that they didn’t seem to acknowledge his absence, so he eventually started taking the initiative to avoid them before they could ignore him. It made him feel like he was the one in control, and it was him who didn’t want to hang out with them.

“Oh, Maybe next week.” He’d say when Henry asked if he wanted to come on an expedition.

“I’m working that night.” He’d lie when Randall said he was having a party.

“I’m really busy.” He explained when Angela called him saying she needed someone to talk to.

_“Please I just… I just need to-“ her voice came, Dalston rolled his eyes on the other end of the line. He’d heard this drama a thousand times. He didn’t need to hear what that mean girl in her class said._

_“I’m real sorry Angie I don’t have time for this right now.” There was silence for a while, and he could picture her seething._

_“Nobody else is awake, can I just-“ Dalston winced at the tone of her voice, choosing to cut the conversation short with a slam of the phone on the receiver. He genuinely was busy with work, and she could wait. _

He’d regret that one for years. She’d cursed him out and called him a horrible friend when she saw him in the hallway. He’d been confused until he walked into class and heard people talking about her missing brother. The news crushed him, but Angela had refused to speak to him.

He saw her speaking to Hershel though.

It hurt, knowing he’d let her down. And knowing how much he’d let her down, he removed himself from the group entirely. His friends didn’t need that.

He hoped in a way that the group would come running after him and beg him to come back. It never happened, but he was too stubborn to crawl back to them.

So he became the loner kid, the one everyone assumed was the school bully. His parents didn’t care that he was by himself. He was old enough not to have a babysitter now, he just hung in the house by himself most days, his dog was good enough company.

He’d watch Randall, Angela and Henry with their new friend in tow. They’d go on expeditions, hikes, they’d have sleepovers where he bet they told stories that were nowhere near half as scary as his.

But he didn’t need them, he had the basics of a business started, though he wasn’t good at schoolwork he was very good at running numbers. And he knew he wanted to be successful.

He basically devoted himself to work in that year, drawing up plans for his dream hotel that he’d build one day. It was going to be incredible, the best hotel anyone had ever seen. He just needed somewhere to put it.

After his initial pettiness wore off, he tried occasionally to rekindle his friendship, but the others didn’t seem to want to include him anymore. It seemed like he’d left it too long.

They went off to Ascot’s constantly, and talked about Ancient Civilisations he’d never heard of and didn’t understand. Randall and Angela were dating now, and Hershel seemed to be best friends with them. Henry seemed to have distanced himself slightly as well, which made Dalston feel smug in a spiteful way.

By that point, his parents had started to get on at him for never having a girlfriend, and pushed him to pursue one. They’d always been weird like that, telling him he’d never achieve his crazy hotel dream to work if he never found a wife.

_“What about that Angela girl? You used to be good friends.” His mum said when she was home for a weekend. Dalston made a grossed out face at the thought of it. _

_“That would be weird.” Dating his childhood friend, how lame can you get? And why did he need to date a girl anyway?_

_“Well her mother wants her to find someone, and you’d get on very well.”_

Over the months he saw Randall and Angela together and, despite his claims, he started getting jealous. He wasn’t sure why, he didn’t like Angela like that. He didn’t think he did. But every time he saw the two of them together he got angry, and felt really competitive towards Randall. So he figured he had a crush on her.

That’s definitely what it was.

He definitely had a crush on the girl who was very pretty and nice to him.

And her stupid boyfriend who was impressively smart and funny wasn’t the right person for her.

Angela didn’t want to marry Dalston, which was understandable. He didn’t feel particularly sad though. He did get upset when she said she might marry Randall though.

He feelings were confusing to him.

His work on the hotel plans continued as he attempted to woo Angela in all the ways he didn’t really get, and ignored the weird jealousy he felt towards Randall.

-

He heard about the news a few days too late.

He’d seen them heading out on their adventure, and thought ‘look at those nerds’. They offered him to come but he declined, he was still muddling through how he felt about hanging out with them. The initial anger at not being included was gone, but he was still stubborn as ever.

And then those nerds didn’t come back.

Well, one did. But he was quiet, and strange. Barely said two words to anyone. He’d moved out of town before the end of the year. Dalston someone lay awake at night wondering if it would have gone differently if he’d accepted their invitation. He felt awful. 

Angela was even worse than when her brother went missing. She basically went MIA for weeks, nobody knew if she was still in Stansbury. She came back to school angry and ready to snap at anyone who spoke to her. Dalston wanted to comfort her but didn’t know how, he wasn’t good with…feelings.

Henry was equally odd, but he wasn’t as upset as the others. Having been fired from the mansion, he often stayed round Dalston’s. They didn’t talk much, and Dalston had a crazy idea that he had a hand in Randall’s death. (it was bit too suspicious that he’d been spotted heading out to the ruins so much, and Hershel didn’t speak to him.)

But Dalston wasn’t gonna let him freeze to death outside. When Henry caught sight of Dalston’s Hotel plans, he seemed interested and asked him to draw up another copy.

_“Why do you need hotels?” Dalston asked, rolling out his blueprints. Henry clicked his tongue, looking more animated that he had in weeks. He seemed genuinely invested, almost to a state that worried Dalston._

_“I have an idea.”_

He was shocked when Angela and Henry announced their engagement. And yet, despite his alleged crush on her that he convinced himself wasn’t just a manifestation of his mother’s insistence, he wasn’t heartbroken. He shrugged and went on with figuring out how big the top of the Inn needed to be as Stansbury crumbled around him.

-

Monte D’Or was… An Ambitious project. He didn’t understand Henry’s logistics, but he’d been promised a big space to work on his hotel. He had the name and design all picked out, and the ‘Camel’s Hump’ was going to be the next best vacation spot.

Henry despised the name, but gave the okay for his plan to go ahead.

On the days he, Henry and Angela worked to build Monte D’or, he felt nostalgic. For the first time in years, he and Angela spoke as friends. He tried to be a comfort when she got upset about the people she’d lost, and it was nice to be involved.

In a macabre sense, Randall’s death made his relationships with his friends stronger. But he didn’t want to think of it that way.

They travelled out to the spot together, Henry hadn’t explained to him why he’d chosen there but Dalston could figure it out. There was a small camp set up for explorers, so he reworked his plans to build round their initial camp. He laughed as he saw Angela and Henry, Hard hats on, ready to build.

But a few months on, he couldn’t hide that sneaking suspicion that Henry was hiding something. He suddenly had a wealth of money, allegedly from the Ruins, even though his expeditions were supposed to be for information. His crazy idea seemed more and more likely.

Angela herself looked worn out and miserable, She and Henry’s eventual marriage was private and he wasn’t invited. It made him even more wary.

_“Angela.” He’d asked one day, as they strolled about town. The question had been stressing on his mind and he couldn’t avoid it any more. “Do you love Henry?” _

_She looked taken aback for a second before frowning._

_“Don’t start this again.”_

_“No I don’t mean it like that.” He explained, his childhood feelings weren’t there at all. He’d recently realised they’d been misdirected anyway. “Just, you don’t seem that happy with Henry. Is he treating you okay?” He hadn’t intended to be accusatory, but it happened to come out that way. Angela stopped in her tracks and spoke confidently despite the shakiness in her voice._

_“I love Henry. And I don’t need you to pry any further.” _

_ \- _

He started to hate Henry Ledore. He worried about what went on behind the scenes, but he wasn’t welcome in their house. He didn’t want to ignore Angela’s wishes, but he stressed. And before he knew it, it was back to just him all by himself. He felt a lot like he did in High School.

Monte D’Or boomed in the coming months, as tourists caught word that it was a good vacation spot. So he managed his hotels, surprised to see most of the guests were Archaeologists and explorers. That treasure Henry found was quite a tourist magnet.

And then Henry took over as the Employer of the Camel’s Hump, and the Reunion Inn. Dalston wasn’t too fussed, he had a few other hotels that were doing just as well. But that business rivalry just fuelled his rage at the man.

He got on okay with his butler Gonzalez, and Tyrone from the circus was a nice chap. But he felt lonely on the outskirts of town. He wondered if Henry had put him out here on purpose. Let him help build, then kick him out.

-

When he saw the Masked Gentleman for the first time, his first thought was:

_Angela you Crazy Bastard. _

The build matched her, she did theatre in high school, ‘Gentleman’ would be the perfect thing to throw people off her scent. And if his gut instinct was right, she was out for revenge.

It all added up, Henry married her in some twisted attempt at stealing his old friend’s life, Angela had agreed so that she’d be near enough to strike.

He couldn’t even be mad, it was impressive. And if she was doing it to get back at her creep of a husband, he’d silently cheer her on from the sidelines.

Keep your Enemies close, keep your friends guessing whether or not they’re actually your friends for 18 years.

Speaking of, Hershel Layton also turned up apparently on Angela’s request. It looked like Angie was going all out to cover her tracks, playing the frightened town leader role.

His initial impression of Hershel’s group wasn’t good, considering his assistant nearly kicked his dog into the side of his home, and he saw the kid try and touch the cactus outside his gate at least three times. Layton himself didn’t seem too bad though, appeared to have got over his meekness.

They didn’t really believe Dalston’s theory on The Masked Lady, but he wanted to trust his instincts. He did the best he could to help them out, but he knew they had him pegged as a main suspect. Typical Hershel, siding with the others over him.

-

He’d hoped that being present for the next Miracle would make him obviously innocent, but apparently the police were all utter idiots. His suspicions soon changed from Angela to Henry, who watched Dalston get arrested without a word. He took the opportunity to yell that Henry was stealing Randall’s life, and threw all his accusations at him, but Henry didn’t respond.

He didn’t have as clear a motive in mind for why Henry would terrorise his own city, but apparently you didn’t need one to be a suspect. He was being held at the police station on the terms that he ‘was still in love with Angela’.

He scoffed at the notion, these people really hadn’t yet worked it out. He hadn’t dated since high school, did he really have to graffiti ‘I’m not into women’ on the side of his house? But even that, on top of the fact the Masked Gentleman looked nothing like him, wasn’t enough to bring justice.

After all, the police force answered to the Ledores. Screwed over once again by the very same people. Did he have a single friend in this town?

-

Dalston was gonna be honest. He hadn’t ever considered the fact that Randall Ascot might be alive. He was fully convinced that boy broke his neck in a pit nearly two decades ago. The concept hadn’t even crossed his mind.

So he’d stood for the last 10 minutes in utter shock at seeing him. Apparently he was the only one who hadn’t guessed it, everybody else was acting as if it was totally normal and predictable to fake your death for years.

At the very least, he was kinda happy to see Ascot. He was even more happy to find that the weird jealousy was gone though, that awkward crush was not something he wanted to address ever in his life.

He felt a sense of righteousness when the boy told everyone how Henry stole his life, Dalston was almost wanting to jump up and yell “Yeah he’s right! Get ‘im!” and then punch Henry in the face.

He felt guilty when it turned out that wasn’t true and Henry was actually an alright guy.

So he stood, feeling bad, watching and trying to get his mind round everything. Henry confessed he and Angela had gotten married so he could wait together. Dalston thought that was odd, but he remembered Angela’s parents getting on her case about marrying him. At least that soothed his worries about what went on between them.

Randall had broken down into tears and his friends comforted them. Dalston made eye contact with him and looked away, kicking at some debris on the floor.

They were all back, even Layton.

So he guessed they were all ready to go off and adventure. He was happy that he’d no longer be accused of being a criminal, and it would be really nice to see them all together.

Without him.

He heard footsteps, and saw Henry approaching him. In the background he saw Randall pulling Hershel into a hug.

“Dalston?” Henry asked, Dalston looked down as if he hadn’t noticed him. He didn’t think it seemed very believable. “I’m sorry you got dragged into this, I just needed more time to prove who it was.”

“Well I can’t say I loved bein’ your scapegoat.” Dalston laughed awkwardly. “I’m just glad you’re all happy together ‘gain.”

“This is going to take some… adjusting. Do you think you’ll be good to take control of the Reunion Inn?” Dalston felt ready to burst with happiness, seeing the massive hotel behind them, the jewel of Henry’s hotel empire. But he kept it professional. “I just need some time to address things with Master Randall.”

“Of course.” He looked at the man who he’d hated for years and felt horrendously guilty, now knowing what was happening behind the scenes. He no longer had a desire to be angry. Henry smiled, and the two of them made their way over to the rest of their friends.

Angela grinned as they got near, it seemed like the first time she’d smiled at him in years, Mascara staining her cheeks slightly from happy tears. It made him so immeasurably happy to see. She deserved it after all the pain she’d been through.

Randall had discarded the jacket and gloves of the Masked Gentleman costume, looking dazed and overwhelmed. Dalston resisted the urge to tease him, opting to save that for later. He was glad he’d come around to the truth. Dalston hugged them both, lifting them off their feet slightly.

Hershel seemed to have been perplexed by one hug, Dalston felt as though another would send him spiralling, so he just smiled at him as he let go of the others. He was glad he’d come back, it seemed like he was the only one that managed to bring them all back together.

Who knew that all he needed to do to get the group together was fall off a cliff and dress up in a weird costume? He’d have done it years ago if he’d have thought it would work.

Dalston looked round. A scene that was 18 years too late but appreciated all the same. Friends chatted, giddy from a weird day of revelations and confessions.

He knew there were things that had to be sorted, there was no way Ascot was gonna get off without punishment. Dalston himself wasn't sure if he full fully forgave him. There was no way for them to go back to normal.

But for the first time in decades, he felt a part of something.

-

_They say Two is dangerous, immature._

_Three is harsh, distant_

_Four is secretive, accusatory_

_But Five? Five is a damn good number to have_

**Author's Note:**

> I watched some cutscenes to remember details and quick question why the FUCK does he sound like that it the US one
> 
> Posh Dalston isn't valid.


End file.
